Glasgow’s QAA review: tracing the assessment process

Updated Nov 06, 2026

QAA published its targeted peer review of the University of Glasgow on 27 January 2026. The review responded to a concern raised by the Scottish Funding Council and identified systemic risks to academic standards and the student experience. QAA announcement.

The scope and recommendations

Four reviewers, including a student reviewer, examined assessment regulations and credit, extensions, communication, risk and oversight, and student involvement in institutional change. The process ran from September to November 2025.

The report made 21 recommendations. QAA said Glasgow would need an action plan within four weeks. It recommended additional liaison meetings in 2025–26 and 2026–27, and bringing the next regular external review forward to 2027–28. The announcement also reported a Scottish Funding Council decision to commission a wider Scottish review of assessment policies and procedures.

The concern followed an internal investigation after a student’s death, but QAA expressly states that this review did not examine the individual circumstances of that incident. Its findings must not be presented as a determination about that case. Review scope and next steps.

A practical assessment-process check

Our suggestion for teams elsewhere is to examine a student’s journey through an assessment process. Can they find the applicable regulations, identify an extension route, understand who makes the decision and see how a concern is escalated?

Compare the documented process with student accounts and operational records. Follow one reported problem through the process: what information the student received, which team made the decision and how the outcome was explained. Record what was checked, what changed and how students will be involved in evaluating the response.

Keep this Scottish review distinct from OfS regulation in England. Our comment analysis governance checklist can support the separate task of documenting qualitative evidence and review responsibilities.

The assessment and feedback pathway connects regulations with the everyday assessment experience. Use the closing-the-loop pathway to plan how students will hear about and assess the response.